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The White Dwarf Mass-Radius Relationship

Let's use these expressions for pressure to gure out the size of white dwarfs. We had two expressions: one from hydrostatic equilibrium, and one from degeneracy pressure. If the WD is to be in equilibrium, these pressures must balance. In this case we derive the mass-radius relationship for white dwarfs:
for nonrelativistic degeneracy:

more massive WDs are smaller!

Mass (Msun) R (Rsun) Sirius B 1.0 typical WD 0.5 0.003 0.01

But as we look at more and more massive white dwarfs, they will have higher and higher densities. The electrons will be
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for relativistic degeneracy:

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found in higher and higher energy states, so their speed will approach the speed of light. What happens if we do the same calculation with relativistic degeneracy? We get a strange result: for relativistic degeneracy, you tend to a constant mass. But this can't really happen: if you add more mass, you need faster-than-light electrons to support the WD, which is impossible. If there is too much mass, the WD will collapse. This means the "constant mass" is actually a maximum mass that can be supported by degeneracy. This maximum mass is known as the Chandraskhar Limit, and is Mch = 1.44 Msun So we can plot the Mass-Radius relationship for white dwarfs: huh?

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